'The Open Work’: Ecologies of participation

By Guy Harries

Abstract

Audience engagement with a sound work can extend beyond fixed conventions in\ud
which roles of creation and perception are separate. In an ‘open work’ these roles\ud
are blurred, and the audience takes on an active part of co-creation. Participatory\ud
sound works can be considered as ecologies of engagement rather than fixed\ud
compositions. Technologies of dissemination and interactivity have become part of\ud
the design of such ecologies, and sound artists have integrated them in highly\ud
diverse works. Two main aspects of participatory ecologies will be considered: the\ud
continuum of ‘active interpretation’ to ‘co-authorship’, and the creation of a\ud
community of intersubjectivity. These two aspects will be discussed in the context of\ud
a range of sound works, including the author’s work Shadowgraphs (2009/11) and\ud
its interconnected manifestations: an installation, a live performance and a blog